> There's no secret Google police out to get you. You are not revealing some big conspiracy here, it's a well-understood exchange I'm not sure Google's funding

> There's no secret Google police out to get you. You are not revealing some big conspiracy here, it's a well-understood exchange I'm not sure Google's funding and mission is widely understood in the west, even amongst the tech-literate. In China and Russia they are acknowledged as a front organisation funded by national security. Here are a few more - http://www.businessinsider.com/25-cutting-edge-companies-funded-by-the-central-intelligence-agency-2012-8 http://www.businessinsider.com/25-cutting-edge-companies-fun..., http://www.wired.com/2010/07/exclusive-google-cia/ http://www.wired.com/2010/07/exclusive-google-cia/ But it would be more amazing if this wasn't the case. Google have grown very fast into being part of vital infrastructure - and security services wouldn't be doing their job if they didn't have significant inside presence (I'm sure they can't be the only ones either). However, this leaves us with massive unresolved problems of oversight (how do we ensure we don't end up with a Stasi or McCarthy situation), and compartmentalisation (where enough data is aggregated across enough areas to represent a security threat to individuals e.g. politicians and judges becoming open to blackmail).